Blacksmith vs. the System

While I was asked to stay in the dungeon, I didn't have command over the guards. However, I also went to a secret meeting with Eleanor after the crisis. She left in a hurry and I stayed back. It meant the guards had no idea exactly where I stood.

Thomas running after a confrontation with me complicated things further.

It was a problem because they didn't know what they were supposed to do if I gave them an order. Of course, in a fair world, it wouldn't matter, but life wasn't fair. Making a wrong choice meant that they would be blamed.

"Don't worry. I'm just here to keep an eye on things, and make sure that there's no accident from the second floor," I said, which simultaneously comforted them and explained my disappearance. "Just give me a new cart, and record the old ones," I said.

"What should we do with the broken ones?" one asked.

"Just pack them and send them to the town. They'll be useful for my guild," I said. "Also, pass me a cart."

"Do you need swords, sir?" one asked.

"No, those should keep me going for a while," I said, pointing at the multiple swords I had on my waist. It was wasteful to use them against monsters, but luckily, it was not a problem for me. Their only use was to explain why I wasn't coming back with a lot of destroyed weapons.

With that done, I left, dragging my cart away, and preparing myself for a sleepless night. "Well, maybe I can take a nap on the fourth floor if it gets unbearable," I muttered, amused by the unexpected benefit. But, otherwise, skipping sleep for a night shouldn't be too hard.

I was used to it.

However, as much as I wanted to go to the fourth floor and start working, I didn't disappear immediately. Just in case, I wanted to show myself a few times first, in case there was a spy that would pull another trick.

Naturally, I didn't waste my time. Instead, I pulled one of the swords, using Observe to examine the sword. It was a good opportunity to multitask, as not only was I curious about the secrets hidden inside a higher-grade weapon, but I would also be able to finally test Observe properly. I had been running around since I upgraded it, which meant I wasn't able to test it properly.

A part of that delay had been a lack of need. Pushing myself to the limit while producing that gold alloy to trick the System had given me enough of a boost that just listening to the System directions and relying on Creative Forging to adjust the designs had been easier.

Technically, I had used Observe while building the atmospheric steam engine, but it was more about checking the macro details that even Analyze could have caught. Hardly a way to test the limits of my new perk.

More importantly, I was excited to learn the secrets of a weapon from the System Store.

However, as much as I wanted to start with something radical, I ignored that instinct. Instead, I started with using Repair, trying to get the path to Repair the weapon.

There was none.

It was not a surprise. The reason I was able to repair the other weapons was that the Sharpness enchantment was simple enough to be ignored while repairing a simple weapon, but even the more complicated bronze mana-alloy weapons I had been initially hired to mend required Warm Blow as a prerequisite.

I had basically bypassed that requirement by doing the repair manually. From the System perspective, what I had been doing was cheating.

Clearly, for the more complicated enchantments, the Mana Repair variant wasn't enough, and I needed one — or possibly multiple, considering I wasn't receiving a suggestion — perks.

I had Mana Control, which was enough to bypass the enchantment and work on the metal without breaking the spell structure, but Repair skill didn't know that. They both might be Class skills, but the perks weren't transferrable.

A pity.

Of course, that didn't mean I couldn't restore the weapon if I wished to do so. One trick was even obvious. I could strip one of the swords from its enchantments, and replicate the damage on the other one, then use it as a cheat sheet.

An absurd solution that was too cumbersome to be useful in any situation that wasn't exactly specific. "Well, not so absurd," I muttered even as I chuckled. Ultimately, what I had been planning to do wasn't too different. I would strip the enchantment, essentially ruining the sword, then destroy it repeatedly in different methods.

Just a more comprehensive version of the first model.

I had to, because as much as I wished, the weapons couldn't be repaired the same way. The differences between different materials; not just completely different ones like bronze and iron, but also two variants of the same main alloy.

Problems started at the base material level. Mechanical properties alone had many subsets. Just the ability to deal with external force had many categories of measurement, brittleness which defined the likelihood of shattering without deformation, hardness which defined its surface strength, fatigue which was about resisting repeated and long-term force, tensile strength was about the maximum force that could be applied, resilience which defined its ability to absorb energy while bending…

They were all about the ability to deal with external forces, and it wasn't even a comprehensive list. There were manufacturing properties, the way it reacted to heat, and chemical features like reacting to rust or other external attempts.

Those features had changed wildly between alloys, meaning working with a new alloy without the System's assistance was an incredible study.

They weren't exactly a problem for me for two reasons. First, I had been relying on the System suggestions a lot to compensate for any problem. Second, I wasn't exactly trying to maximize the potential of any alloy. As long as it was workable, I would be happy to use it.

After all, it didn't matter whether a fork was made of silver or steel. As long as one avoided making one out of glass — at least, ordinary window glass — it would work.

Unfortunately, all those details meant that I needed to learn how to repair each weapon type from scratch. Some, like the case of bronze weapons, were doable. Meanwhile, it would likely not be really useful for more complicated, unique weapons.

And, in the case of the weapon I had in my hands, it was a bit more complicated. I had only six numbers, which wasn't really enough to make it worth the trouble of learning. I could forge pure weapons that could surpass their enchanted performance as long as I was willing to spend the time.

Unfortunately, bringing them out in public without a source to explain their existence was troubling. I didn't want Eleanor to be suspicious. While I trusted her about most things, I had no intention of testing her when selling me out would solve Maria's problem.

It meant I had to spend time learning about them.

For the next hour, I used Observe, focusing on learning the nature of the weapon without the benefit of the skill. It was an iron-silver mix, and there was too much silver, enough to compromise the integral structure and base strength of the metal.

As for other stabilizing materials used, they were a mystery. I could break the enchantment to find out what they were … but, I could also go with a simpler route instead.

"An anti-corrosive plating." It was a rough solution, one that would undoubtedly reduce the quality of the swords even more, even weaken the enchantment, but I didn't care. The whole point was to explain why I could kill thousands of beasts without borrowing bronze swords to Eleanor.

Technically, I could have claimed the same without adding the plating, but this way, I could lend the other five to my future guild members without it being suspicious.

It wouldn't have convinced any spies Thomas had, who would have known about the issue with the swords he had armed his assassins with, but it wasn't too much of a problem. If he continued to believe that I was near a hundred, new swords weren't exactly a problem.

I only needed to go to the trouble to convince Eleanor.

I spend the next hour at the first level, slowly adding a layer of coating to the sword. Since it was a process that was more reliant on mana than heat, I didn't bother going down to the fourth floor. The dungeon was kind enough to give me all the supporting material I needed, and the iron, I could always take from the cart. As for silver, I used the fake sword I had brought with me.

The experiment lasted almost two hours, and the only reason I was able to do that was the Mana Control Perk, allowed me to slowly detach and reattach the mana links between the enchantment and the metal.

Even then, the first one was almost a spectacular failure. The enchantment lost the link with the metal, which turned completely useless. The enchantment was still there, just useless.

The others, I had various levels of success with. But, the real success was that I got more familiar with Observe. Not enough to dare trying to overcharge it, but still satisfyingly so.

"Customization for the win," I muttered even as I walked toward the fort once again, wanting to show myself for one last time for the evening, casually mentioning how the assassins were kind enough to grant me weapons that worked excellently in the dungeon, knowing it would be eventually reported to Eleanor.

I had some real experiments to run. It was time to get a better understanding of Mana and Health.